Mechanical movement



Nov. 1o, 1942. r. M. Ronny 2,301,642

MECHANICAL MOVEMENT A T TORNEYS.

Nov., 10, 1942. F. M. RODDY v l MECHANICAL MOVEMENT Filed July 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. ai#

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1 ATToRNEYS.

Patentecl Nov. 10, 1942 MECHANICAL MOVEMENT i Fred M. Roddy, Providence, R. I., assignor to H & B American Machine Company, a corporation of Maine Original application February 13, 1941, Serial No.

Divided and this'application July ,29,

1941, Serial N0. 404,454

` Claims.

plish this result with a minimum of mechanism.

To these ends my improvements comprise features illustrated in their preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a mechanical movement embodying my invention and showing the main traverse cam and the creep or auxiliary traverse-control cam in their extreme positions of rotary movement;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l showing the arrangement of a main cam, the slides, and the gearing for driving the main cam;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the arrangement of the creep cam, the rocker arm, and the planetary driver for driving the creep cam;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail end elevational View, on enlarged scale, of a portion of the mechanism illustrated in the lower left portion of Fig. 1 with the creep cam removed, showing tated at uniform speed to effect the reciprocation of a slide 49 at a uniform rate of speed, a rocker arm 50 oscillated by the slide 49 in response to its reciprocatory movements, a reciprocable transfer bar 5l connecting the rocker arm to rocker lever 52 and reciprocated in response to the oscillatory movements of the rocker arm to transmit the oscillations of the same to the rocker lever 52 toA effect corresponding oscillatory motion of the shaft 42 and the arm 4l thereon, and an auxiliary mechanism to control the oscillatory motion of the shaft 42 by varying the extreme limit of the stroke of the i'eciprocable transfer bar 5| in one direction comprising an auxiliary cam 54 oscillatable with the rocker arm 50 and also independently rotatable relative thereto whereby said cam 54 will have a motion of precession relative to the rocker arm 59 during a definite predetermined cycle of osi cillations of the rocker arm for progressively varying the leverage ratio of the connection means between the rocker arm 50 and the reciprocable transfer bar 5I.

As illustrated in Figs. l and 2, the heart cam 48 is affixed to the end of the hub 55 of the drive gear 56 in a suitable manner, as by means of the threaded studs 51 which pass through suitable openings in the cam side and have their inner ends screwed into tight engagement with the tapped holes 5B provided in the end face of the hub 55. The main cam 48 is rotated continuously at constant' speed by the drive gear 55 which is driven, preferably at a relatively slow speed, by suitable mechanism (not shown).

3;, As illustrated in Fig. 2, the gear 56 is prothe rocker arm, in dot and dash outline, in its l two extreme positions of oscillatory movement and the planetary movement, in full lines, for driving the creep cam;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view of part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3, but with some of the parts illustrated in full outline; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail transverse sectional view of the upper slide and its mounting, taken on line 6--5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, the shaft 42, which is to be positively oscillated and driven by the mechanism of the present invention,vis shown as being suitably journaled in the upright wall 43 of the housing 44 of the unit device generally designated by the reference numeral 45 and containingmy novel mechanical movement.

The'mechanism of the unit 45 comprises as the principal elements thereof a main cam 48 of heart-shaped contour which is continuously rovided with a suitable bearing sleeve 66 pressed into the hub 55 of the gear 56 for rotating of the gear about the fixed pin 6l which is nonrotatably secured in the hub 10 of the housing 44 in a suitable manner such as, for example, by means of a key or a set screw (not shown) Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the main cam 48 is shown with its peripheral face in an operative engagement with the periphery of the cam follower roller 'lll rotatable on the pin 'l2 carried by the end portion of the depending arm 13 of the bracket 14 which is offset from and secured to the outer side face of the upper slide 49 near one end thereof in a suitable manner, as by machine screws 15. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 6, the upper slide 49 consists of a long, narrow, U-shaped plate provided with two spaced slotted openings 16 through which extend the Shanks of the T-shaped blocks l1 the heads of which are accommodated within the channel portion of the slide and hold the slide in the channel-way 'I8 of the horizontally disposed lll-shaped guide member 'I9 for free sliding movement therein. Screws 85 secure the blocks 'I7 to the back wall of the channel member 'I9 which in turn is suitably fixed to the housing B4 of the unit 45.

iIn order that the reciprocatory motion of the slide i9 may be transferred to the rocker arm 50 to impart oscillatory motion thereto, I provide a hardened roller 8| which is freely rotatable on the pin 82 between and at the outer ends of the arms 83 of the rocker arm 5c, and this roller engages and rolls back and forth along the surface of the hardened face plate 84 secured on one end of the bracket '14, whereby the normal uniform rotary movement of the cam 48 eifects reciprocation of the slide 4S and thus, through the rolling connection of the roller 8i with the bracket 14, serves to oscillate the rocker arm 50 back and forth in response to the movement of the slide.

In order that this oscillatory. motion of the rocker arm 5) will be transmitted by the transfer bar 5! to the rocker lever 5 2, I form the other end of the rocker arm 5i) of a bifurcated construction (see Fig. 3) having spaced arms 83'; and the outer end of these arms is provided with a rectanguluar slot 35 (see Fig. l) within which is mountedthe slide block 86 which bridges the arms and has mounted therein a cam follower roller 8l' freely rotatable on a pin 33. The roller 81 engages and rolls back and forth along the outer surface f a hardened face plate 89i affixed to theadjacent end of the transfer bar i thereby A imparting reciprocating movement thereto in response tothe oscillatory movements of the rocker arm as the roller 81 rolls up and down on face plate 89 during oscillatory movement of the rocker arm 5S. As shown in Fig. 2, the transfer bar 5I is held offset from the U-shaped slide 923 by the spaced studs Qi provided on the back of the bar, and the bar is xedly secured to the slide in any known manner in the art, such as by screws d3. The lower slide 9i] is of similar constructionto the upper slide 49 and is held in the channel-way E of the U-shaped guide member 9S by T-shaped blocks (not shown) whereby the slide @il has free sliding movement in the lower guide member 96, which in turn is xed to the housing ld.

A cam roller mi! pinned to the arm 52 by a pin i0! and freely rotatable thereon contacts the hardened sleeve W2 attached to the transfer bar 5i. Thus, the longitudinal reciprocating :motion of the transfer bar 5i will therefore be converted into oscillatory motion of the rocker lever 52 which in turn is keyed to and oscillates the shaft l2 and through it by means of appropriate linkage (not shown) effect reciprocatory motion of a member in a desired direction. For example in my copending application, Serial No. 378,745, above referred to, thismovement is disclosed and claimed in conjunction with a winding device in a textile `machine for the production of a variable and cyclic traversing motion of a ring rail wherein the vertical traverse of the rail is progressively shortened and lengthened in accordance with a .predetermined law, governed by the equation of the curve employed for the creep cam contour, and the cycle of variable traverse of the ring rail is repeated 'over and over again to form the desiredfbuild of yarn on the bobbins.

It will be seenv from the description of the mechanism thus far described that the main cam i3 in normal operation rotates continuously at uniform speed, and there will be produced oscillatory movement ofthe shaft 42 at uniform speed from one extreme extent of movement to the other with no dwellat the ends thereof when the direction of oscillation of the shaft 42 is reversed.

A further feature of this invention resides in the construction and arrangement of the mechanism for changing the amplitude or extent of oscillatory movement of the shaft G2; and for this purpose I provide means for progressively varying the extent of the stroke of the transverse bar 5l in one direction during a predetermined cycle of the operation of the cam 48. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, I show an auxiliary cam E65 which I have termed the creep cam, since it is constructed and arranged to have progressive rotational movement relative to the rocker arm 55B and to vary its angular position with respect to the ar'ni 5E] by a slight amount foreach cycle of swinging movement with the rocker arm 5i), and I utilize this creeping action or progressive rotational motion of the cain m5 to progressively move the slide block from one end of the slot 85 to the other end thereof. Thus, I provide in the inner face of the cam a groove 163 which receives a cam follower roller H34 loosely rotatable upon the pin E96 xed to the slide block 8S. The groove H63 is made of such shape or contour as to vary the fulcrum length between the reciprocable pin IM', as it moves with the block 86, and the axis about which the cam |95 rotates, in accordance with whateverrule or law according to which the cam 95 must necessarily move to produce the desired motion of the lshaft G2. It will thus be seen that by this arrangement I effect a progressively varying change in the leverage ratio of the lever arm 83 or in other words, vary the leverageV distance of the line of contact of the roller 8l with respect to the transfer bar Ei by causing` the slide block 86 to progressively vary its position and to move up and down in the slc't 85 and thus advance or retract the roller 81 progressively to vary the outer extreme limit of the stroke of the transfer bar 5I and the slide @il without altering the inner limit or starting position of the transfer bar 5i In other words, the slide 99 and transfer bar 5i will be moved to their maximum outward position as shown in Fig. l, and the rocker arm 50 will assume the angularly inclined position there shown, with the upper lever arm 83 of the rocker arm 5i) carrying the cam follower 8l, also upwardly inclined, to the left of the figure. However, when the transfer bar has been reciprocated to the left .of the-figure and restored to its original starting position, the rocker shaft and the rollers'iand 3'! wil-1 all lie on the same vertical line of centers. Thus, the inner or starting position of the transfer bar will always remain the same at the startV and finish of each reciprocation.

In order to impart the progressive rotary or creeping motion of the auxiliary cam 605 during the simultaneous rocking motion of this cam andthe rocker arm 5), I have provided a system of planetary gearing to turn the cam 95 whereby it will make one rotation on its'own axis during the predetermined cycle of oscillations which it undergoes with the rocker arm 5t. In therembodimentillustrated, the rocker', arm 5 0` makes about 48 lcycles of oscillation to'each revolution of the creep c'ain IUS. To'this end respectively integral with the channel member 96 and the housing 44 of the builder unit. Mounted intermediate of the bearings and is a gear `||2 which has intermeshing engagement with the driving gear 50 which drives the main cam 58. Provided in the outer side face of the gear ||2 is a large circular recess ||4 which forms a rim ||5 on this side face of the gear, and mounted on the inner wall of this recess is a pinion gear IIS which is freely rotatable on a stud ||1 fixedly secured by screw threads to a threaded hole in the side wall of the gear ||2 and locked in place by means of a nut ||8 'on the projecting threaded end of the stud. The pinion ||6 has intermeshing engagement with a pair of gears ||9 and |20, which gears are of substantially equal width, and their combined width substantially equals that of the pinion H6. As shown in Fig. 3, the gear ||9 is keyed to the shaft |01 by means of a key 12|, and this gear has a hub |22 on which is loosely mounted the other gear |20. The gear |20, however, oscillates with the rocker arm 50; and to attain this result, a pin |25 of stepped formation extends between the rocker arm 50 and the gear ||4 and is connected to the rocker arm by the reduced end portion |26 which is received in an opening |28 in the rocker arm 50. The other end portion of the pin |25 is of more reduced size than the end portion |26' and forms a small short cylindrical plug |29 which is `inserted within a hole |30 formed in the side face of the gear |20. Thus, the pin |25 serves to bridge the gap between the rocker arm 50 and the gear |20 to couple these parts together for oscillatory motion in unison. The gears ||9 and |20, while of Yequal pitch diameter, diifer, however, in their respective number of teeth, the gear |20 having one more or one less tooth than the gear H0.

In the planetary gear system just described, it will be observed that the motion of the gear ||9 is dependent upon the revolving motion of the gear ||2 and the oscillatory motion of the gear |20, and that the gear ||9 will oscillate back and forth with the rocker arm and will at the same time progressively advance or creep around the reduced portion |06 of the shaft |01 and through relative to the rocker arm 50 because of the different number of teeth present in the gears ||9 and |20. Since the gear ||9 and the cam |05 are both keyed to the shaft |01 the Creep cam |05 will therefore participate in exactly the same movement as the gear H9. If desired, it will be obvious that different increments of creepage of the oscillatory cam |05 may be obtained as desired by providing various desired tooth differences in the number of teeth on the gears ||0 and |20.

I claim:

l. A mechanical movement comprising a movable main cam, a iirst slide, a cam follower movable with said first slide operatively engaging said main cam to reciprocate the said slide, a rockable member to be oscillated by said rst slide, a second slide, a pair oi rollers rotatably mounted on said rockable member, one of said rollers having its axis at a fixed distance from the pivot axis of said rockable member and being in operative engagement with said slide, and the other roller being adjustable and movable toward and from the pivot axis of the said rockable member for varying the distance between the axis of the adjustable roller andthe pivot axis of the rockable member, and also being operatively engageable with said second slide in all the adjusted positions of the adjustable roller, in combination with means oscillatable with said rockable member and also having independent movement relative thereto during the oscillatory motion of said rockable member to eiect progressive adjusting movement of said adjustable roller on said rockable member into different adjusted positions at varied distances relative to the pivot axis from maximum to minimum positions, and vice versa, which are repeated for a definite cycle of oscillations of said rockable member.

2. A mechanical movement comprising a movable main cam, a rst slide, a cam follower movable with said first slide operatively engaging said main cam to reciprocate the said slide, a rockable member to be oscillated by said rst slide, a second slide, a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on said rockable member, one of said rollers having its axis at a xed distance from the pivot axis of said rockable member and being in operative engagement with said slide, and the other roller being adjustable and movable toward and from the pivot axis of the said rockable member for varying theYV distance between the axis of the adjustable roller and the pivot axis of the rockable member, and also being operatively engageable with said second slide in all the adjusted positions of the adjustable roller, in combination with an auxiliary cam oscillatable with said roekable member and also having independent rotary movement relative thereto during the oscillatory movement of said rockable member to effect progressive adjusting movement of said adjustable roller on said rockable member into different adjusted positions at varied distances relative to the pivot axis from maximum to minimum positions, and vice versa, which are repeated for a definite cycle of oscillations of said rockable member, and means including planetary vgearing for rotating said-auxiliary cam one complete revolution for a cycle of a predetermined oscillations of said rockable member.

3. A mechanical movement comprising a rotatable main cam, a rockable member, reciprocable connector means driven by said main cam operatively arranged to impart uniform oscillatory motion to said rockable member, an auxiliary cam mounted to be oscillatable bodily with said rockable member and to be rotated relative thereto, means to rotate said auxiliary cam to impart a motion of precession thereto relative to said rockable member, a cam follower mounted for reciprocation on said rockable member and to be moved by said auxiliary cam into different adjusted positions to vary the eifective leverage of said rockable member, a shaft to be oscillated, a lever xedly secured to said shaft, a reciprocable connector member driven by said cam follower and operatively connected to said lever for imparting oscillatory motion of varying amplitude to said lever and the shaft.

4. -A mechanical movement comprising a rotatable heart cam, a rockable member having an arm formed with a long narrow opening therethrough, reciprocable connector means driven by said heart cam operatively arranged to impart uniform oscillatory motion t0 said rockable member, an auxiliary cam mounted to be oscillatable bodily with said rockable member and to be rotated relative thereto, means to rotate said auxiliary cam to impart a motion of precession thereto relative to said rockable member, a cam roller mounted in the opening in said arm to be reciprocated therein relative to said rockable member and to be moved by said auxiliary cam into different adjusted positions to vary the effective leverage of said rockable member, a shaft to be oscillated, a lever fixedly secured tosaid shaft, a reciprocable connector member driven by said cam roller and operatively connected to said lever for imparting oscillatory motion of varying amplitude to said lever and the shaft, said reciprocable connector member having outward movement of variable extent corresponding to the changes in leverage of said rockable member, the inner position of said connector member being the same at all times.

5. A mechanical movement comprising a shaft to be cscillated, a reciprocable member, a guide for said reciprocable member, movable connections from one end of said reciprocable member to said shaft, a rockable member mounted to swing on a pivotal axis, means to uniformly oscillate said rockable member on its pivot, a connection member from said rockable member to the other end of said reciprocable member, a support on which said connection member is mounted reciprocable on said rockable member toward and from the pivotal axis of the rockable member, and means to reciprocate said support repeatedly on said rockable member to progressively move said connection member first in one direction and then in the opposite direction relative to the pivotal axis of the rockable member in accordance with a predetermined cycle of oscillation of said rockable member, thereby alternately shortening and lengthening the eiective leverage of said connection element with respect to said reciprocable member.

6. A mechanical movement comprising a shaft :i

to be oscillated, a reciprocable member, a guide for said reciprocable member, movable connections from one end of said reciprocable member to said shaft, a rockable member mounted to swing on a pivotal axis, means to uniformly oscillate said rockable member on its pivot, a connection member from said rockable member to the other end of said reciprocable member, a block on which said connection member is mounted, guideways on said rockable member in which guideways said block is mounted for reciprocating movement toward and from the pivotal axis of the rockable member, and means to reciprocate said block repeatedly on said rockable member to progressively move said connection 'memfil ber first in one direction and then in the 'opposite directionrelative to the pivotal axis of the rockable member in accordance with a predetermined cycle of oscillation of said rockable member, thereby alternately shortening and lengthening the effective leverage of said connection element With respect to said reciprocableV member.

7. A mechanical movement comprising a shaft to be oscillated, a reciprocable member, a guide for said reciprocable member, movable connections from one end of said reciprocable member to said shaft, a rockable member mounted to swing on a pivotal axis, means to uniformly oscillate said rockable member on its pivot, a connection member from said rockable member tc the other end of said reciprocable member, a block on which said connection member is mounted, guideways on said rockable member in which guideways said block is mounted for reciprocating movement toward and from the pivotal axis of the rockable member, a cam to reciprocate said block repeatedly in said guideways, said cam being mounted on said roel/:able member for swinging movement bodily therewith and for rotary movement relative thereto, and means to slowly rotate said cam during swinging movement of said rockable member to cause said block and the connection member thereon to be given one complete reciprocation during a predetermined cycle cf complete oscillation of the rockable member thereby progressively shortening and lengthening the effective leverage of said connection element with respect to said reciprocable member.

8. The combination in a mechanical movement as set forth in claim 7 in which the cam has progressive rotational movement on said rockable member and makes one complete revolution relative thereto for a predetermined cycle of complete oscillation of the rockable member.

9. The combination in a mechanical movement as set forth in claim 7 in which the inner limit of travel of said recip-rocable member remains 

